Workshop on early stationery bindings

Structure as Decoration: an Exploration of Early
Stationery Bindings Made with Lacing and Tacketing
A two-day workshop with Chela Metzger
Friday and Saturday, May 9-10, 2008
9am - 5pm
(This date has changed since the previous announcement)
at the The New York Academy of Medicine Sponsored by the NY Chapter
of the Guild of Book Workers
This course is inspired by the varied and beautiful lacing and
tacketing found on account-books, or stationery bindings in medieval
and early modern Europe. These blank books were created to hold
records of businesses and organizations, and have a different set of
aesthetic and structural practices than the bindings found on
regular scholarly and religious books. Lacing on these books is
somewhat like applique or lacing on western gear and can be as
complex as the Islamic inspired mudejar star patterns found on
stationery books in Spain, or the simpler lines and X patterns found
all over Europe. Tacketing is a sort of "staple", usually of
twisted parchment, which holds the pages to the cover, or holds the
cover together, and tackets can also take many forms.
Participants will have an opportunity to make their own parchment
tackets, practice lacing and tacketing techniques off the book,
practice making loops and buttons off the book, and then create at
least one traditional stationery binding, combining techniques as
desired. Prior experience hand sewing books is useful, but not
required.
Chela Metzger is a librarian, bookbinder and book conservator
currently teaching full-time at the University of Texas at Austin
School of Information. She is always curious about new book
structures, and is especially enjoys the varied books folks have
used for record-keeping and accounting historically. Her work in
Latin America has fostered a strong interest in Spanish/Islamic
influenced bindings and her father was an amateur creator of western
style laced and braided items, so lacing was part of her childhood.
Space is limited to 10 participants.
Workshop fee: $170 Members, $220 non-Members, Materials fee: $40
RSVP:
Clare Manias
212-851-5603
cmanias<-a t->yahoo< . >com
The workshop will be held at the Gladys Brooks Book and Paper
Conservation Lab of The New York Academy of Medicine located at 1216
Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 103rd Street in Manhattan.
Clare Manias
NY Chapter Co-Chair
Guild of Book Workers
***
Conservation DistList Instance 21:55
Distributed: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Message Id: cdl-21-55-010
***